A GOOD GUY LEAVES – AT 7:14 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman will announce on Wednesday that he will not seek a fifth term, according to a person he told of his decision.

Mr. Lieberman, whose term is up in 2012, chose to retire rather than risk being defeated, said the person, who spoke to the senator on Tuesday.

“I don’t think he wanted to go out feet first,” the person said.

A longtime Democrat who lost a bitter primary battle to Ned Lamont in 2006, Mr. Lieberman won re-election as an independent that year, largely benefiting from a weak showing by the Republican candidate, who received less than 10 percent of the vote.

But Linda McMahon, the wealthy pro-wrestling tycoon who spent $50 million on an unsuccessful Senate race last year, has already signaled she may run again in 2012.

COMMENT:  Senator Lieberman is part of a dying breed, the national-defense liberal.  He was severely punished by his party, which had nominated him for vice president in 2000, for his strong pro-defense views, and his understanding that politics stops at the water's edge.

I'm sure the hard-left liberals will now rejoice.  They won't thank Joe Lieberman for the support he has given some of their causes over the years.  These people never thank anyone.  They have no idea what graciousness is.  But they know how to hate, and they sure practiced what they knew on Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman's decision to address the Republican National Convention last year probably doomed any chance he had for reconciliation with his own party.  But, like many things Joe has done in life, it was a decision of conscience.

The Senate will miss Joe Lieberman, just as it missed Barry Goldwater.  There are some public servants who are valuable just because you know they'll tell you what they actually believe.

January 18, 2011